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L.A. Law
L.A. Law was a Syndication network legal drama series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher. This series was aired on September 15, 1986 and concluded on May 19, 1994, lasting eight seasons and 171 episodes. Throughout the run of the series, various actors such as Harry Hamlin, Susan Dey, Jimmy Smits, Corbin Bernsen, Jill Eikenberry, Blair Underwood, Alan Rachins, Michele Greene, Michael Tucker, Sheila Kelley, John Spencer, Conchata Ferrell, A. Martinez, Alan Rosenberg and Debi Mazar (from "Civil Wars") have starred on the show. The show was popular with audiences & critics and also won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run (four of which were for "Outstanding Drama Series"). Plot The show focused on the personal and professional lives of the people at a big law firm in Los Angeles, California. Cast Main *Corbin Bernsen as Arnie Becker *Jill Eikenberry as Ann Kelsey *Alan Rachins as Douglas Brackman Jr. *Michael Tucker as Stuart Markowitz *Richard Dysart as Leland McKenzie *Harry Hamlin as Michael Kuzak 1-5 *Susan Dey as Grace Van Owen 1-6 *Jimmy Smits as Victor Sifuentes 1-5 *Michele Greene as Abby Perkins 1-5 *Susan Ruttan as Roxanne Melman 1-7 *Blair Underwood as Jonathan Rollins 2-8 *Larry Drake as Benny Stulwicz 2-8 *Sheila Kelley as Gwen Taylor 4-7 *Amanda Donohoe as Cara Jean "C.J." Lamb 5-6 *John Spencer as Tommy Mullaney 5-8 *Cecil Hoffmann as Zoey Clemmons 5-6 *Michael Cumpsty as Frank Kittredge 6 *Conchata Ferrell as Susan Bloom 6 *A Martinez as Daniel Morales 7-8 *Lisa Zane as Melinda Paros 7 *Alan Rosenberg as Eli Levinson 8 *Debi Mazar as Denise Iannello 8 *Alexandra Powers as Jane Halliday 8 Supporting/Recurring Cast *Patricia Huston as Hilda Brunschwager 1 *Bernie Hern as Judge Sidney Schroeder 1-2; 5 *John Hancock as Judge Richard Armand 1; 4-6 *Jerry Hardin as D.A. Malcolm Gold 1-6 *Anne Haney as Judge Marilyn Travelini 1-8 *Cynthia Harris as Iris Hubbard 1 *George Coe as Judge Wallace R. Vance 1-6 *Carmen Argenziano as Attorney Neil Robertson 1-6 *Michael Fairman as Judge Douglas McGrath 1-8 *Bruce Kirby as D.A. Bruce Rogoff 1-5 *Michael Holden as D.A. George Handeman 1; 6 *Joanna Frank as Sheila Brackman 1-2; 6-8 *Annie Abbott as Judge Janice L. Neiman 2-8 *Diane Delano as Rhonda Vasek 2 *Ellen Drake as Elizabeth Brand 2-4 *Jeff Silverman as Erroll Farrell 2 *Daniel Benzali as Judge Donald Phillips 2; 5-7 *Paul Regina as Felix Echeverria 2-6 *Don Sparks as Russell Spitzer 2-7 *Leonard Stone as Judge Paul Hansen 2; 5-8 *Earl Boen as Judge Walter L. Swanson 2-8 *James Avery as Judge Michael Conover 2-6 *Raye Birk as Judge Steven Lang 2-7 *Dann Florek as Dave Meyer 2-8 *Wayne Northrop as Bill Ringstrom 3 *Nancy Vawter as Dorothy Wyler 3 *Gerald Anthony as Ross Burnett 3 *Joyce Hyser as Allison Gottlieb 3-4 *Stan Kamber as Judge Harlan Shubow 3-6 *Renée Jones as Diana Moses 3-5 *Bruce Fairbaim as Sheldon Ganz 3-7 *Amanda Plummer as Alice Hackett 3-4 *Wayne Tippit as Leo Hackett 3-4 *Keith Mills as Judge Walter Green 3-8 *Jennifer Hetrick as Corrinne Hammond 4-5 *Carl Lumbly as Earl Williams 4 *Vonetta McGee as Jackie Williams 4 *Lorinne Vozoff as Judge Roberta Harbin 4; 6 *Veronica Cartwright as Margaret Flanagan 4; 6 *Diana Muldaur as Rosalind Shays 4-5 *Lillian Lehman as Judge Mary Harcourt 4-8 *Courtney Thorne-Smith as Kimberly Dugan 4 *Lawrence Dobkin as Judge Saul Edelstein 4-8 *Jordan Baker as ADA Marcia Fusco 4-5 *Concetta Tomei as Susan Hauber 4-8 *Vincent Gardenia as Murray Melman 4-5 *Stanley Grover as Judge Richard Lobel 4-8 *Denis Arndt as Jack Sollers 5 *Tom Verica as Bill Castroverde 6 *Brad Sherwood as Ned Barron 5-6 *Lauren Lane as Julie Rayburn 6 *Lynne Thigpen as D.A. Ruby Thomas 6-7 *Anthony DeSando as Alex DePalma 6 *Alison Tucker as Sarah Alder 6 *David Schwimmer as City Attorney Dana Romney 7 *Shelley Berman as Ben Flicker 7 *Anne Twomey as Linda Salerno 7 *Joe Grifasi as Dominic Nuzzi 7-8 *Kathleen Wilhoite as Rosalie Hendrickson 7-8 *Steven Eckholdt as Patrick Flanagan 8 Episode numbers Production Reception Due to its popularity, "L.A. Law" had great influence on how Americans viewed the law and lawyers. The New York Times described it as "television's most serious attempt to date to portray American law and the people who practice it ... L.A. Law, perhaps more than any other force, has come to shape public perceptions about lawyers and the legal system". Attorneys reported that the show had affected how they dressed and spoke to juries (and, possibly, how those juries decided cases), and clients came to expect that cases could be tried and decided within a week. The number of applicants to law school rose because of how it glamorized the profession (including, as one law school dean stated, "the infinite possibilities for sex"), professors used the show as a teaching aid to discuss with their students legal issues episodes raised, and law journal articles analyzed the meaning of its plotlines. The show reportedly taught future lawyers things law school did not, such as time management and how to negotiate, and an attorney stated that the show accurately depicted life at a small law firm. One law professor wrote in the Yale Law Journal that "L.A. Law" has conveyed more 'bytes' of information (truthful or not), more images about lawyers, than all the Legal Studies programs, all the op-ed pieces, all the PBS shows put together." The show was "a massive distortion of reality ... the lawyers of L.A. Law are caricatures", he stated, but "caricatures are always caricatures of something, and that has to be real". Another wrote in the issue that the show "subtracts eighty to ninety-nine percent of lawyers' real work lives" and overemphasized the glamor of the rest. However, unlike other works of legal fiction (such as "Perry Mason" and "Presumed Innocent") which are essentially mysteries that lawyers solve, "L.A. Law"'s plots taught its tens of millions of viewers torts, ethics, and other basic legal ideas and dilemmas that comprise the first year of a legal education. DVD release External links Category:1980s television series Category:1990s television series Category:1986 Category:1987 Category:1988 Category:1989 Category:1990 Category:1991 Category:1992 Category:1993 Category:1994 Category:Syndication